It is said that in the early Middle Ages there was a large wealthy city in the Southern Baltic, named “Vineta,” perhaps belonging to Rügen, which sank into the sea. The cause could have been anything from a tsunami to a displacement of tectonic plates, yet legend says that it was a punishment for the depraved behavior of its inhabitants. The legend also says that on rare occasions a lucky sailor can see it lying on the bottom of the sea, and that once a century it’s given permission to rise to the surface. If a traveler passes by, walks through the city, and using a small coin buys a single object at one of its many markets, he or she can remain in the world of living. 

However, it’s rarely the case that a traveler has the coin that Niels Holgersen lacked when he unavoidably had to walk through the city, but instead find a solution by saying the redeeming words that will protect us from the curse of the water. Yet however this word – this audible coin – sounds, thwarting the triumph of the sea, it’s the task of every human being to find out and, in faithfulness to life on Earth, whisper it to each other. 

Ole explains his choice of myth: 

“I have chosen this myth because so many people seem unaffected by the message about the dangers encompassing the earth. Like  the use of “word” or “kerygma“ or “proclamation” in Christianity, there may be a word that goes straight to our hearts and we thereby understand its meaning, causing us to change our ways.” 

Ole Fogh Kirkeby har fundet inspiration hos Selma Lagerlöf til denne myte:

Det fortælles, at der i den tidlige middelalder lå en stor, rig by i det sydlige Baltikum, med navnet ”Vineta”, måske allokeret på Rügen, som sank i havet. Vi kan tænke os mange årsager, fra flodbølger til forskydninger i fastlandssoklen, men sagnet siger, at det var en straf for dens indbyggeres usædvanlige lastefuldhed. Sagnet siger også, at den heldige sejlende ved helt særlige lejligheder kan se den ligge på havets bund, ja, endogså, at den hvert hundrede år skænkes tilladelse til atter at stige op til jordens overflade. Hvis da en rejsende kommer forbi, går gennem byen, og blot med en lille mønt køber en enkelt genstand på et af dens mange markeder, så kan den forblive i de levendes verden.

Dog handler dette næppe om, at den rejsende har den mønt på sig, som Niels Holgersen manglede, da det timedes ham uforvarende at gå gennem byen, men derimod om at udveksle et løsen, om at kunne udtale det forløsende ord, der beskytter os mod vandets forbandelse. Men hvordan dette ord, denne mønt af klang, lyder, der lader havets triumf usket, er det ethvert menneskes opgave selv at finde frem til, og derefter i troskab mod livet på jorden hviske det til os andre.

Ole forklarer her sit valg af myten:

Ole har valgt myten, fordi så mange mennesker synes upåvirkelige af budskabet om de farer, som jorden svæver i. I lighed med ”ordet”, ”kerygmaet”, i kristendommen, så kan der måske findes et ord, der går til hjertet og derigennem at vi forstår det, medfører, at vi ændrer vores praksis.